It leaves Dario and Mellor in limbo, with neither knowing what will happen next. The deal could still go through if Rick Parry agrees to it but it's more likely that the club will have to wait for the new manager to suss Mellor out before agreeing to anything, as Dario told CreweAlex.net:
"I know he (Neil Mellor) was a little disappointed that Gerard Houllier was allowing him to come here before pre-season training had even began.
"However I still believe that, at his age, a season in the First Division will do Neil a lot of good.
"But Gerard has gone and Rick Parry is away on holiday so we cannot progress that deal at the moment. We will have to wait and see what happens."